Under these Tears, the walls came down
by MistressMaliceMalfoy
Summary: Hermione, Snape, Voldemort, booze, will the madness ever end? Dont care if you review.
1. A new beginning?

IM BACK! Took me a while to think up another good story, but here it is. I decided to try my hand at a Snape/hermione fic. Im obsessed with reading them right now!

DISCLAIMER- if you recognize it, its JK Rowling's. I aint her...yet! muahah!

Hermione beamed at her parents, who were sitting in the audience, with all the other graduating student's families. She could spot out Mr. And Mrs. Weasley, as well as Mrs. Dursley, who was looking as if she had eaten a lime. Mr. Dursley had been one of the first Muggle casualties of the war, and it seemed to be a good thing for Harry's aunt. She accepted the fact that, yes, magic exists, and yes, she is related to 'them'. She was also showing some signs of untrained magic herself.

Hermione was glad that Harry was starting to have a real family again, and she looked over at her best friend. He must have noticed her glance, and looked over at her. He smiled, one which she returned. They were finally graduating. They were done school, and Hermione was elated, depressed, nervous and proud all in one.

"Congratulations, all of you. You have all been excellent students to teach, while, we can no longer call you students. You are all adults, and fine ones at that. You will all make great contributions to the Wizarding community, and I, personally, look forward to seeing how you all progress." Professor Dumbledore's voice boomed throughout the great hall. His eyes held the customary twinkle, despite the fact that the war was not yet finished, and casualties were still coming in.

"I would also like to take this time to make an announcement. As of the end of this term, I shall no longer be the Headmaster of Hogwarts Witchcraft and Wizardry. There will be the need for a new Headmaster starting next term, and as of now, I do not know the identity of said person."

Hermione looked around the stunned audience. Not one person in the entire room had been expecting that, not even the other professors, by the looks of it. Professor McGonagall's eyebrows were higher then ever, Professor Sprout had managed to fall of her chair, but the most shocked teacher seemed to be Snape. He looked even meaner, if possible, and the heat of his gaze was directed at Dumbledore. Hermione was surprised at the sheer venom in his stare.

The ceremony was soon over, ending with a gigantic feast, which had absolutely everything. The students, teachers and parents dug in with enthusiasm. The students, or rather, the ones that actually thought about it, realized that this was their last feast at the school, as they were leaving the next morning. Hermione was one of the students that thought about this. She felt a pang of sorrow, but brushed it off. She didn't have the time to be sad, she had entirely too much work to do, as well as other things to worry about. She knew that she would still see her favorite professors regularly at the Order, as well as her close friends. All that would be missing was the castle, which she gladly gave up for the comfort of 12 Grimmauld. She was moving into one of the spare bedrooms until the war was over, to be closer to the order members, and to be able to help when she was needed.

After the feast, Hermione went to say good-bye to her parents, who decided to go home and pack the rest of her things, then stay over. She left them at the Entrance, where they were being apparated by volunteers from the staff. She gave her parents hugs, and kissed them both on the cheek. She promised to be home the next day, in the early afternoon, to collect her things.

"Be good, Hermione dear. Stay out of trouble." Anne Granger said, kissing the top of Hermione's chestnut colored hair.

"I will mum, I promise." Hermione said, giving her mother one last hug before she left. Hermione watched her parents walk towards the Hogwarts gates, and then apparate. She turned towards the grand staircase, and began walking to her dorm.

Hermione felt sad, knowing that this was her last night at Hogwarts. She knew that she would miss the feasts, and the library, as well as her classes. At the same time, however, she was excited to get on with her life, and help defeat Voldemort for good. She knew that she was still young, and had plenty of living still ahead of her.

She walked up to a portrait displaying a giant blue dragon, resting on a hill, under a large tree. She had moved out of Gryffindor tower when she became Head girl, and moved into the Head's dorm, which she shared with Draco Malfoy, who was Head boy. They had learned to get along, for the most part. There was still name-calling, but neither really cared anymore. They couldn't be called friends, but they weren't enemies anymore, much to Ron and Harry's displeasure. Hermione couldn't care less what they thought in this situation however, and continued her acquaintance with Draco.

"Good evening, Madam Hermione." The dragon, whose name was Guenhwyvar, said, looking at her.

'Good evening Guen." Hermione replied to the dragon.

"You have a visitor, Madam, who is patiently awaiting your arrival." Guen said, swishing his tail about.

"Oh? Who might this visitor be, may I ask?" Hermione asked, feeling lighthearted. She always loved talking to Guenhwyvar, who was intelligent, and courteous.

"You may ask, my dear. It would be Headmaster Dumbledore."

'Oh, I should get in then, shouldn't I?" Guen nodded. "Banished"

The portrait opened at the password, admitting Hermione into the common room. She spotted Dumbledore sitting casually on one of the couches, enjoying a cup of tea. He looked up at her entrance, and smiled, his eyes twinkling, albeit faintly.

"Good evening, Professor Dumbledore." Hermione said, walking towards him, and taking a seat on the opposite couch.

"Good evening Miss Granger. How are you, my dear?" he asked.

"I am well, thank you. And yourself?" Hermione asked, wondering why he was here.

"I am excellent. I have something to discuss with you, which is of great importance. I would have brought you to my office, but it seems a bit late for that." Dumbledore said, relaxing more comfortably in the couch cushions.

"How can I help you, Professor?" Hermione asked, still confused.

"As we both know, Voldemort is still at large, and getting more powerful everyday. I have been researching some of the spells that he had used to make himself almost invincible. I may have found a counter-curse, or, rather a counter potion. Nothing is concrete at the moment, which is why I have come to you."

'Me? But.. Why not go to Professor Snape?" Hermione asked, bewildered.

"Ah, well, my dear, I did indeed see Professor Snape. It appears that out Potion's Master is unfamiliar with arithmancy, which is part of the procedure for the potion making. I have come to ask if you will help Professor Snape make the potion, so we can defeat Voldemort once and for all." Dumbledore said, the twinkle from his eyes gone.

"Why me? I'm sure that Professor Vector is much more suitable, being the arithmancy professor and all." Hermione asked.

"Actually, my dear, you exceed even her knowledge and ability in this particular subject."

Hermione blushed deeply, understanding now how she had managed to get a 120 in her class.

"If you agree to this, you will help Severus with his potion making, apprenticing under him. You can help save the wizarding world, as well as the lives of many, including Harry's."

That was the killing point. If Hermione could help save Harry…

"Ill do whatever I can, Professor." Hermione said.

"Good my dear. You and Severus shall work together at Grimmuald place, since he had a private lab there. I hope that you two can start right away." Hermione nodded. "Ill take my leave, my dear. And don't call my Professor anymore, since it is no longer true."

With that, Dumbledore was gone.

Hermione sat for a few moments to let everything sink in. She was smarter then her professor. She had to help professor Snape. She could save Harry. Wait…

She had to work with Professor Snape. Severus. Her most hated professor.

Shit.


	2. A fleeting thought

Disclaimer- im not JK Rowling. Never was, never will be, but in the secret places of my mind.

"I am a Gryffindor. I am brave. I have to be, otherwise I wouldn't be Gryffindor"

Hermione repeated this mantra over and over in her head, trying to build herself up for her upcoming meeting with Snape. However, every time she felt strong enough to face him, his image popped into her head, and her strength vanished. Snape, with his greasy lank hair, his snarky attitude, his bad manners, his inability to be nice. All these things made Hermione well, not _fear_ her professor, but defiantly dislike him greatly.

She sighed.

She gave up trying to be strong. She knew that it wouldn't help anyways. Her strength would last not quite so long once she was in his presence. However, she also knew that he could only be SOO mean to her, since he did, in fact, need her help.

That thought did nothing but make her more nervous.

She was more afraid of making an ass of herself, then of her former professor. However, making an ass out of herself in front of said professor made her cringe. He would slaughter her. Humiliate her, and then ruin her life, somehow. She shuddered.

"Ah, Miss Granger. Where you planning on gracing me with your presence sometime today, or do you truly enjoy standing around like an idiot?" Mr. Snarky himself said, silently coming up beside Hermione.

"I, uh" Hermione stuttered, looking around herself, at the floor, her shoes, anything, but the slimy bastard.

Severus Snape smirked.

"Please do try to keep your air headedness to a minimum in my lab. Any mistakes will not be tolerated." Snape said, stalking past her, towards the lab, robes billowing behind him.

Hermione had no choice but to follow him. She hadn't realized that she was late for their meeting; otherwise she would have given up on her mental conversations. Not that she was about to tell that to Snape, who would only glare at her.

They walked through the house, the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix. There were many members now, especially now because Voldemort had made his presence known. Harry and Ron, as well as herself, had been granted membership when they graduated Hogwarts, only days ago. The golden trio now all lived at headquarters, which made them feel more important, and able to help.

Hermione was glad that she would have her friends there with her. Ginny, the only Weasley daughter was also staying at headquarters for the summer, for which Hermione was grateful. She knew that she would need a female companion to help keep her sanity. She loved Harry and Ron, but there were some thing that she just simply couldn't talk to them about.

Snape came to a portrait, one that Hermione hadn't noticed before. He halted her, with the wave of his hand. She looked at the portrait, which was the same dragon that was her former dorm guardian. Or was it? Hermione couldn't tell.

Snape whispered something to the dragon, which opened. Hermione looked at Snape, and then to the open door, and walked into the secret lab of Professor Snape.

Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed the dragon wink at her. Hermione smiled. It was her dragon.

Hermione first noticed the huge, steel table, which took up the entire center of the room. It was completely spotless, and orderly. The whole lab was, which didn't really surprise Hermione. She knew that Snape hated mess, and it could potentially be quite dangerous when working with some of the potion ingredients.

Snape billowed past her, and went to a cupboard in the corner of the room. He rummaged around, and then pulled out a rather large book. He brought it over to the steel table, and beckoned Hermione over to see it.

Hermione went over quickly, eager to learn something new, and to get started on this potion.

"Now, Miss. Granger, this is an ancient potion text, dating back thousands of years. The Headmaster restored what he could, but it is still in terrible condition. Therefore, before we start, we must copy out what we need to, in order to prevent the text from crumbling anymore then it has." Snape said, moving to another part of the desk, and bringing forth ink and parchment. Hermione watched as he did so, wondering what else this lab hid from view.

"The potion that we will be making is rather expansive, and I must ask you to ask no questions, until the text is fully copied." Snape sneered at her. "Here is a chair, copy the potion as I recite it."

Hermione, eager to be the little Miss know it all, decided not to argue, and pulled the parchment towards her. She dipped the quill, and sat, waiting for the recitation to begin.

They spent the better part of the morning copying/reciting the potion. Hermione obediently copied the potion in her neat little handwriting, and made a second and then a third copy for herself, and Dumbledore, respectively.

The potion contained many ingredients that were incredibly rare, but not impossible to find. The arithmancy part of the potion was fairly straight forward, as far as Hermione could tell, but it would be time consuming, since it was quite complex. Hermione could truly appreciate what she was about to learn. She just wished that she could have a better working companion.

While Hermione was making the final copy of the potion, Snape studied her. The bane of his existence for 7 years and counting. There were certain qualities that Miss. Granger had that Severus could appreciate, but they were far and few between. As far as he was concerned, she was an annoyance. One that needed to be gotten rid of as soon as humanly possible.

"I'm all done, Professor." Hermione said, breaking into Severus's thoughts. Hermione stood from her chair, and arched her back. She had been sitting for far too long.

"Good. Deliver a copy to Dumbledore. Study the potion tonight, and we shall resume this _session_ tomorrow. Do not be late." Snape said.

Hermione grabbed the parchment and headed to the door. As far as Snape went, he was downright civil during the session. That thought made Hermione stop, mid-step.

"Are you truly that scatter-brained that you cant remember you were leaving?" the silky voice behind her said.

Hermione turned her head, shot him a glare, and stormed out of the lab.

So much for civil.


End file.
